Blackburn Rovers signed Ben Brereton from Nottingham Forest on a loan deal in August, with a view to making the transfer permanent in the January.
Former Blackburn Rovers player Mick Rathbone believes Ben Brereton could be a £30-40 million player one day and feels Rovers made a wise investment buying him from Nottingham Forest.
“I know the jury is out in inverted commas in these early days, but trust me, this is a great investment. Please remember, he’s only 19 and he will get better,” Rathbone told the Lancashire Telegraph.
“The way football is now, if Ben plays to his potential then he could be worth £30m or £40m. He’s a great signing but give him time, he’s only young.”
Brereton made 35 Championship appearances for Forest last season, but the Reds opted to move him out on loan to Blackburn with his move set to become permanent in January, as reported in the Lancashire Telegraph.
Forest boss Aitor Karanka brought in the likes of Lewis Grabban and Joao Carvalho among several other additions in the summer, therefore he may have felt the young striker wasn’t needed at the City Ground.
But allowing Brereton to join Blackburn was still a surprise as Forest have a proud history of bringing through academy products.
Brereton has since struggled to get game-time at Rovers, making just one start for the Lancashire club and that came in the 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup.
Having said that, at 19-years-old the former Forest ace has plenty of time to cement his place at Blackburn and in today’s market the reported £7 million fee (Lancashire Telegraph) which Rovers will part with in January doesn’t seem too bad at all.
Premier League clubs pay big money for strikers and should Brereton realise his potential at Ewood Park, there is no reason he can’t go for more than the £18.5 million Lancashire rivals Burnley received for Andre Gray almost 18 months ago (Daily Mail).
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